Monday, January 30, 2012

Hey there! This is Crimson Guitar checkin' in again for a manga review!

This time, I would be reviewing a manga series entitled 'Kagami no Kuni Harisugawa' (Harisugawa in Mirror World in English) written by Kano Yasuhiro. Fans of romantic manga series will definitely like this manga for it has an interesting plot with a blend of mysteries that will keep you thinking your brains out.

"Boys are creatures whose sight will follow the girl they like wherever
she is. And if there comes a chance that the boy realizes that the
girl is in danger, and if he is able to save her, they will feel the ultimate
bliss in life." These are the words that Harisugawa Tetsu has pointed out, and
true enough he has always been following with his eyes the girl named
Satomi Mao.

Thanks to certain situations from their childhood, Satomi has been always friendly to Harisugawa and developed a very nice relationship with him, completely unaware from Harisuagawa's feelings towards her. And as for Harisugawa's part, he preferred to stay friends with Satomi because of him being afraid of what might Satomi's reaction would be, and also, he wouldn't want to destroy their current closeness as friends. At first, its seems that this situation, a "stalemate" if you would compare it to a chess game, will never be broken until one day, Satomi saw a mysterious mirror from a thrift store which gives her a feeling that she must have that mirror. So Satomi bought the mirror without any second thoughts. But she is completely unaware about a very unexpected situation that she will be involved with, and that the mirror has a vital role in changing Harisugawa and her life.

So, the two things that, for me, really stands out in this manga are the themes of love and mystery. Having these two genres mixed up together created the most exciting and yet a very romantic plot. And also, having a little, just a little, twist of 'ecchi'-ness and a lot of comedy involved in the story, made this manga more exciting to read, and that you would really anticipate the next events that would occur. Also, with Kano Yasuhiro using the range between semi-realistic to almost-'chibi' style of drawing in this manga will really let you appreciate the story even more because of the right amount of details included in his work.

So, if you're having trouble on searching a manga that has romance, mystery, and comedy, I would really recommend this manga series. With this manga being released last 2011, and has already published 27 chapters, who knows what great surprises that this manga might still have hiding under its sleeves waiting for it to be revealed